Get the Latest Investment Ideas Delivered Straight to Your Inbox. Subscribe

TICKERS: QUIS

Financing Lets Cloud Tech Co. Keep Foreign Status With NASDAQ
Research Report

View Important Disclosures for this Article
Share on Stocktwits

Source:

A bought deal financing for CA$6 million is expected to maintain technology company's Canadian ownership for its Foreign Private Issuer (FPI) status.

A bought deal financing for CA$6 million is expected to maintain Quisitive Technology Solutions Inc.'s (QUIS:TSX.V) Canadian ownership for its Foreign Private Issuer (FPI) status with NASDAQ, analyst Rob Goff reported in a June 26 research note for Echelon Capital Markets.

The financing offers 17.2 million common shares at CA$0.35 per share. The underwriters have been given an overallotment option which could push the transaction, expected to close in July, to CA$6.9 million.

Annual measurement for the cloud technology company's FPI status is taken on June 30. Losing the status would have required the company to take on a U.S. auditor.

"We moved our (price target) to CA$1.25, reflecting a higher cost of capital given current market conditions and interest rates," Goff wrote, rating the stock a Speculative Buy.

"Looking forward, we believe expectations leave upside against double-digit organic growth prospects from IT Services and BankCard before considering the emerging contribution of PayiQ as its EBITDA drain turns around and revenue traction gains momentum exiting 2023," Goff wrote. "We look for QUIS to re-engage its inorganic growth aspirations within the next 12 months."

Employee Buying Contributed to Shift

Goff said QUIS employee buying of shares contributed to the ownership shift that threatened its FPI status. The company indicated it would use a portion of the proceeds to repurchase BankCard sales trailer fees, which represent payments to BankCard sales representatives for the ongoing business of clients.

Goff said Echelon continues to see QUIS as undervalued against consolidated valuations.

"QUIS is currently trading at 6.5x EV/NTM EBITDA, modestly above its three-year low of 5.9x," Goff noted. "We highlight that PayiQ represents an appreciating asset within QUIS where arguably consolidated valuations imply a negative by not factoring its EBITDA drain of (CA)$6 (million). Our consolidated 2023/24 EV/EBITDA valuation at 6.3x/5.0x would move to 5.2x/4.3x excluding the start-up costs associated with the PayiQ launch."

Cloud-Enabled Payment Platform Gaining Traction

PayiQ is the company's new cloud-enabled payment-processing architecture. Its commercialization is gaining traction entering 2024, Goff said, and he looks for investors to focus on the migration of BankCard merchants onto the platform, in addition to new clients.

Migration revenues could contribute as much as CA$5 million of PayiQ's revenues at more than 85% gross profit over the next 24 to 36 months, Goff wrote.

"We continue to see the potential for QUIS to acquire ISOs at 10x EV/EBITDA or 6-7x adjusted for savings upon migrating payments onto the PayiQ platform," Goff wrote. "Over the longer term, accretive IT Services acquisitions are expected to add shareholder value as QUIS leverages revenue synergies and scale efficiencies."

PayiQ commercialization into 2024 should focus investor attention on the potentially redefining upside of the platform, according to the note.

"We look for further contracts for IT Services to facilitate QUIS gaining scale and leverage while showcasing double-digit organic growth," Goff wrote. "We continue to look for positive read-throughs from the global cloud providers indicating strength in cloud demand."


Want to be the first to know about interesting Technology investment ideas? Sign up to receive the FREE Streetwise Reports' newsletter. Subscribe

Important Disclosures:

  1. Steve Sobek wrote this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an employee.
  2. The article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports.

For additional disclosures please click here.

Disclosures for Echelon Capital Markets, Quisitive Technology Solutions Inc., June 26, 2023

Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. is a member of IIROC and CIPF. The documents on this website have been prepared for the viewer only as an example of strategy consistent with our recommendations; it is not an offer to buy or sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any security or instrument or to participate in any particular investing strategy. Any opinions or recommendations expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. cannot accept any trading instructions via e-mail as the timely receipt of e-mail messages, or their integrity over the Internet, cannot be guaranteed. Dividend yields change as stock prices change, and companies may change or cancel dividend payments in the future. All securities involve varying amounts of risk, and their values will fluctuate, and the fluctuation of foreign currency exchange rates will also impact your investment returns if measured in Canadian Dollars. Past performance does not guarantee future returns, investments may increase or decrease in value and you may lose money. Data from various sources were used in the preparation of these documents; the information is believed but in no way warranted to be reliable, accurate and appropriate. Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. employees may buy and sell shares of the companies that are recommended for their own accounts and for the accounts of other clients.

Echelon Wealth Partners compensates its Research Analysts from a variety of sources. The Research Department is a cost centre and is funded by the business activities of Echelon Wealth Partners including, Institutional Equity Sales and Trading, Retail Sales and Corporate and Investment Banking.

We noted that the firm has enhanced the disclosure to include Partners, Directors or Officers. However, please confirm that the firm has implemented a process and controls to determine whether Partners, Directors or Officers have provided services to substantiate the applicability of the disclosure for the respective issuer. In the preparation of all research reports, the Analyst, Associate and Supervisor are reviewing the report in depth to ensure its accuracy including the various disclaimers. All employees who are to receive any form of compensation from an outside firm/issuer are to disclose this to EWP as per the firm's Outside Activities and Conflicts of Interests policies. Any such declaration that involves any issuer in which Research covers will involve notifying the Supervisor(s) of Research to ensure they have the required information to correctly disclose this within research reports.

Research Dissemination Policy: All final research reports are disseminated to existing and potential clients of Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. simultaneously in electronic form. Hard copies will be disseminated to any client that has requested to be on the distribution list of Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. Clients may also receive Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. research via third party vendors. To receive Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. research reports, please contact your Registered Representative. Reproduction of any research report in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

Canadian Disclosures: To make further inquiry related to this report, Canadian residents should contact their Echelon Wealth Partners professional representative. To effect any transaction, Canadian residents should contact their Echelon Wealth Partners Investment advisor.

U.S. Disclosures: This research report was prepared by Echelon Wealth Partners Inc., a member of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada and the Canadian Investor Protection Fund. This report does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities discussed herein. Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. is not registered as a broker-dealer in the United States and is not be subject to U.S. rules regarding the preparation of research reports and the independence of research analysts. Any resulting transactions should be effected through a U.S. broker-dealer.

U.K. Disclosures: This research report was prepared by Echelon Wealth Partners Inc., a member of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada and the Canadian Investor Protection Fund. ECHELON WEALTH PARTNERS INC. IS NOT SUBJECT TO U.K. RULES WITH REGARD TO THE PREPARATION OF RESEARCH REPORTS AND THE INDEPENDENCE OF ANALYSTS. The contents hereof are intended solely for the use of, and may only be issued or passed onto persons described in part VI of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2001. This report does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities discussed herein.

Copyright: This report may not be reproduced in whole or in part, or further distributed or published or referred to in any manner whatsoever, nor may the information, opinions or conclusions contained in it be referred to without in each case the prior express written consent of Echelon Wealth Partners.

Research Report Disclaimer Template

For U.S. persons only: This research report is a product of Echelon Wealth Partners Inc, under Marco Polo Securities 15a-6 chaperone service, which is the employer of the research analyst(s) who has prepared the research report. The research analyst(s) preparing the research report is/are resident outside the United States (U.S.) and are not associated persons of any U.S. regulated broker-dealer and therefore the analyst(s) is/are not subject to supervision by a U.S. broker-dealer, and is/are not required to satisfy the regulatory licensing requirements of FINRA or required to otherwise comply with U.S. rules or regulations regarding, among other things, communications with a subject company, public appearances and trading securities held by a research analyst account.

Research reports are intended for distribution only to "Major Institutional Investors" as defined by Rule 15a-6(b)(4) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Act, 1934 (the Exchange Act) and interpretations thereof by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in reliance on Rule 15a-6(a)(2). If the recipient of this report is not a Major Institutional Investor as specified above, then it should not act upon this report and return the same to the sender. Further, this report may not be copied, duplicated and/or transmitted onward to any U.S. person, which is not the Major Institutional Investor. In reliance on the exemption from registration provided by Rule 15a-6 of the Exchange Act and interpretations thereof by the SEC in order to conduct certain business with Major Institutional Investors, Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. has entered into a chaperoning agreement with a U.S. registered broker-dealer, Marco Polo Securities Inc. ("Marco Polo").

Transactions in securities discussed in this research report should be affected through Marco Polo or another U.S. registered broker dealer.

ANALYST CERTIFICATION: I, Rob Goff, hereby certify that the views expressed in this report accurately reflect my personal views about the subject securities or issuers. I also certify that I have not, am not, and will not receive, directly or indirectly, compensation in exchange for expressing the specific recommendations or views in this report.

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURES: Is this an issuer related or industry related publication? Issuer

Does the Analyst or any member of the Analyst’s household have a financial interest in the securities of the subject issuer? If Yes: 1) Is it a long or short position? None; and, 2) What type of security is it? No position

The name of any partner, director, officer, employee or agent of the Dealer Member who is an officer, director or employee of the issuer, or who serves in any advisory capacity to the issuer. No

Does Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. or the Analyst have any actual material conflicts of interest with the issuer? No

During the last 12 months, has Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. provided financial advice to and/or, either on its own or as a syndicate member, participated in a public offering, or private placement of securities of this issuer? No

During the last 12 months, has Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. received compensation for having provided investment banking or related services to this Issuer? No

Has the Analyst had an onsite visit with the Issuer within the last 12 months? No

Has the Analyst or any Partner, Director or Officer been compensated for travel expenses incurred as a result of an onsite visit with the Issuer within the last 12 months? No

Has the Analyst received any compensation from the subject company in the past 12 months? No





Want to read more about Technology investment ideas?
Get Our Streetwise Reports Newsletter Free and be the first to know!

A valid email address is required to subscribe